Best marathon: 2:23:57 (2007, St. George). Won the Top of Utah Marathon twice (2003,2004). Won the USATF LDR circuit in Utah in 2006.

Draper Days 5 K 15:37 (2004)

Did not know this until June 2012, but it turned out that I've been running with spina bifida occulta in L-4 vertebra my entire life, which explains the odd looking form, struggles with the top end speed, and the poor running economy (cannot break 16:00 in 5 K without pushing the VO2 max past 75).

Short-Term Running Goals:

Qualify for the US Olympic Trials. With the standard of 2:19 on courses with the elevation drop not exceeding 450 feet this is impossible unless I find an uncanny way to compensate for the L-4 defect with my muscles. But I believe in miracles.

Long-Term Running Goals:

2:08 in the marathon. Become a world-class marathoner. This is impossible unless I find a way to fill the hole in L-4 and make it act healthy either by growing the bone or by inserting something artificial that is as good as the bone without breaking anything important around it. Science does not know how to do that yet, so it will take a miracle. But I believe in miracles.

Personal:

I was born in 1973. Grew up in Moscow, Russia. Started running in 1984 and so far have never missed more than 3 consecutive days. Joined the LDS Church in 1992, and came to Provo, Utah in 1993 to attend BYU. Served an LDS mission from 1994-96 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Got married soon after I got back. My wife Sarah and I are parents of eleven children: Benjamin, Jenny, Julia, Joseph, Jacob, William, Stephen, Matthew, Mary, Bella. and Leigha. We home school our children.

I am a software engineer/computer programmer/hacker whatever you want to call it, and I am currently working for RedX. Aside from the Fast Running Blog, I have another project to create a device that is a good friend for a fast runner. I called it Fast Running Friend.

Favorite Quote:

...if we are to have faith like Enoch and Elijah we must believe what they believed, know what they knew, and live as they lived.

Day of rest. Went to church. We spoke in the Sacrament meeting on charity. It was our last Sunday in the ward. We are moving on Saturday to our new home in Orem on Palisade Drive. The Lord has poured out so many blessings we ran out of room to receive them.

A.M. . 1 with Joseph, 1 with Jacob, 2 with Jenny and Julia. 1 more alone with a 0.5 pickup in 2:51, and 5 with Benjamin. We did a couple of pickups. 0.75 in 4:12 down the Provo Canyon, and then 0.5 uphill in 2.57 on Carterville road near our new house. We have not moved yet, but have been doing our runs there since we had to bring a load of boxes anyway.

A.M. Ran with Chad. This was my last run at our old house. We went to the Fast Running Blog 5 miler course and ran a tempo on it. The goal was to see how far Chad could go at 6:00 pace. This time there was no ice on the road so I could do a better job pacing. We did 5:55, 11:53 (5:58), 14:51 at the turnaround, then Chad started struggling and slowed down to 92 quarters. We hit the next mile from 2.5 to 3.5 in 6:09 (21:00 at 3.5). At that point I needed to do a VPB. I had Chad go ahead. The VPB took 17 seconds. Chad slowed down to about 95 being alone. I thought that I would be able to run 5:40 pace easily to catch up, but it was not so. I could barely manage sub-6:00. My split at 4 miles was 23:56 (subtracting the lost 17 seconds), and shortly after I caught up to Chad. I figured since he had already accomplished the purpose of the workout - find out how long he could hold 6:00 for on that course - I would just go and see how much juice I have in me. It turned out I did not have a whole lot. The last mile was 5:58 which gave me 29:54 for 5 miles. That last mile felt very similar to 5:37 5th mile in the Rocket City Marathon last week when I got dropped. I felt like I was breathing in the air, could not benefit from breathing in more of it, but it could not get to my muscles. It was a very odd feeling. Likely the leftover from the sickness. I've had it before the last couple of times I've been sick. It takes about a month to get over it. Chad finished 5 miles in 30:48. Afterwards we ran some more to make it to 14 miles total. We picked up in the last quarter and did it in 90. For a quarter 90 did not feel too bad even that late in the run. Then I ran another 1.1 to pick up the moving truck.

Kids ran on their own. Benjamin did 5, Jenny and Julia 2, Joseph and Jacob 1.

P.M. 1.1 with Jenny from the Budget Truck drop-off to our old house to pick up some odds and ends.